Police in talks over phone hub

Senior police talked to staff in Blenheim yesterday about their options under plans for a centralised phone hub in Nelson.

Tasman Police District communications manager Barbara Dunn said managers in Marlborough and Nelson were working to set up a file management centre in Nelson.

It would be operated by non-sworn staff and should be running by September.

The centre would take over much of the clerical work done in police stations throughout the region, Ms Dunn said. The staff who did that work were involved in the talks yesterday.

Ms Dunn would not discuss how many staff were directly affected by the changes.

Some of the work to be centralised to Nelson is done by frontline police. Tasman district commander Superintendent Richard Chambers said last month the plan was to get those staff back to fighting crime.

Ms Dunn said staff directly affected by the centralisation were being offered options including reapplying for positions or promotions. She could not rule out redundancies. "I can't answer that because I'm not sure what option some people will choose." Some staff would also be given the option to move to Nelson.

The Tasman area is the second-to-last region in the country to introduce a file management centre.

Mr Chambers said last month the centre would take calls from people reporting crime. It was designed to make the best use of resources.